Cal Poly Corporation

California Polytechnic State University Foundation

Thomas W Carpenter

James Alan Gerhardt

Patrick J E Lemieux

William R Murray

A system and method of cooling a rocket motor component includes injecting a high pressure liquid coolant through an injector nozzle into a cooling chamber. The cooling chamber having a pressure lower than the high pressure liquid coolant. The liquid coolant flashes into a saturated liquid-vapor coolant mixture in the cooling chamber. The saturated liquid-vapor coolant mixture is at equilibrium at the lower pressure of the cooling chamber. Heat from the rocket motor component to be cooled is absorbed by the coolant. A portion of the liquid portion of the saturated liquid-vapor coolant mixture is converted into gas phase, the converted portion being less than 100% of the coolant. A portion of the coolant is released from the cooling chamber and the coolant in the cooling chamber is dynamically maintained at less than 100% gas phase of the coolant as the thrust and heat generated by the rocket motor varies.

System, method and apparatus for cooling rocket motor components using a saturated liquid vapor coolant mixture

A nozzle flow thrust vector measurement system employs a thrust vector table, and a gas supply. The thrust vector table employs a thrust measurement table; a reference table; and at least three load cell assemblies coupled to the thrust measurement table and the reference table. The gas supply system employs a gas supply conduit substantially fixed relative to the reference table; a gas supply manifold substantially fixed relative to the thrust vector table; and a zero force connecting system coupled between the gas supply conduit and the gas supply manifold, wherein the zero force connecting system applies substantially zero net force to the gas supply manifold allowing substantially all force applied to the thrust vector table to act on said load cell assemblies.

Growing community of inventors

San Luis Obispo, CA, United States of America

Thomas W Carpenter